Ink Tank

Go for the cheap tattoos. Stay for the free HIV test.

Tattoo artists and AIDS specialists work side by side at Voodoo Monkeys Bod-Mod Tour this afternoon. The event is sponsored by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Community Center of Greater Cleveland, which will slash $10 off all tattoos and piercings . . . as long as you sign up for a free HIV test too. People need to be aware of the procedures that a tattoo or piercing salon goes through to be safe, says spokeswoman Mika Major. This will bring together two audiences that typically dont meet.

The Voodoo Monkey studio usually charges $100 an hour to draw and apply tattoos. The discount certainly helps ease the price sting, says patron Karen Kressler, who plans to take advantage of todays special. How can you go wrong? she says. You get 10 bucks lopped off, plus you can find out if you have the virus. It can be a lifesaver.
Thats what Major wants to hear. If the center can get you to take HIV tests by baiting them with cheap tats, shes all for colorful body art. It has everything to do with self-expression, she says. People have been tattooing and piercing since theyve been on this Earth. Its a rite of passage.
Sat., Oct. 6, 1-5 p.m., 2007